Harry Potter and the Revenge of Padfoot
by Sarah29
Summary: It's Harry's sixth year. In his quest to get revenge on Sirius's killer, Harry meets some new people, and learns some new skills. (yeah i know suck summary) OotP spoilers. please R/R
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This is my first fanfic, and I have like the first five chapters done, but im not going to put any more up unless some of you review...because otherwise it will be pointless…that doesn't include you kk…o_O

Birthdays Past:

It was midnight at Number 4 Privet Drive.  A black-haired boy lay on his bed staring out his window into the night.  This boy was Harry Potter. A snowy owl in its cage on the desk nearby ruffled her feathers.  The boy looked at her, coming out of a sort of trance. He looked at her and smiled. Then he directed his attention to the alarm clock on his bedside table.

"Midnight," he muttered to himself, "Happy Birthday to me." This was in fact his sixteenth birthday.  He continued to lie on his bed staring into space and thinking.  How long it seemed since his last birthday. Alone, here, with no real communication to the wizarding world. Now, at least he got frequent letters from Mad-eye, Tonks, Lupin, Mr.Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid. He looked over at the stack of letters which he had saved from all of them, and smiled. 

The smile immediately turned into a frown at the thought of the Order…and the missing member.  Sirius, his godfather, was after all dead. His thoughts had played over and over on Sirius falling through the veil at the Department of Mysteries all summer. Now this scene was played yet again in his head.  He thought about it over and over until he finally drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he awoke and was immediately distracted by the small ball of feathers that was rocketing around his room, hooting wildly. He got out of bed and caught the miniature owl. He untied the piece of parchment from its leg and let it go.  He opened up the letter and read:

_Dear Harry,_

_            Happy Birthday!  Dad says we are going to come get you this afternoon. Sorry we couldn't tell you earlier. Dumbledore just sent an owl saying you can come to the Burrow. Hermione is here already. We will give you your presents when you get here... I think we are coming by Floo Powder again. Anyways, make sure the muggles have moved that eclectic fire thing, ok? Be ready at __1:00__._

_                                                            See you soon,_

_                                                                        Ron_

By the time he had finished reading Pigwidgeon, the owl, had already rocketed through the window and off, back to the Burrow.  Hedwig looked indignant to the overenthusiastic little owl that belonged to Ron. She obviously did not approve.

Harry glimpsed the alarm clock that now read 10:00.  "I slept late," he said partly to himself, partly to Hedwig. He then walked down the steps to the kitchen. Aunt Petunia was there, already cleaning up from breakfast. There was a plate of bacon eggs and toast on the table. Harry sat down in front of it. 

He had just picked up his fork and started eating the cold eggs when Aunt Petunia said, slowly, almost painfully, "Happy Birthday."

Harry was surprised that she had even realized that it was his birthday. "What?" he asked even though he had definitely heard her.

"Happy Birthday." She repeated, louder.

"Thanks," Harry replied startled.  Why had she acted so ….nice.

"You slept late." Why had she noticed this and why had she pointed out, without a nasty tone, like she usually had. Then, Harry remembered Dumbledore's letter at the end of last summer, and Mad Eye's threat at the beginning of this one. He still had not gotten used to the lack of bitterness in their voices.

"Yeah," he said awkwardly, then added, "I'm leaving this afternoon. The Weasleys are coming to get me."

"How?" she asked suddenly uptight, her nostrils flaring.

"Floo Powder" he said, trying to hide a smile

"What?" she asked, then getting angry, "Is that the stuff that blew up half our living room?"

"Er, well, yes, but that was only because the fire place was blocked up and Mr. Weasley had to use a Reductor Cha…." He started but was cut off.

"Don't mention any of that fancy mumbo-jumbo in my house" she said stiffly.

"Sorry," Harry said, not meaning it. "I'm going to go pack." He said finally. Anyways, the Dursley's had never replaced the wooden blockade barring the fireplace from any unsuspecting wizard trying to get through via Floo powder. They actually used the real fireplace, and enjoyed it, but they would never mention that, especially to Harry.

She glared at him the whole way up the stairs. Finally, when he had gotten away from her stare. He sank down in his desk chair, where Hedwig was perched, and started stroking her absentmindedly. He still had 2 hours before the Weasleys would come for him. He ought to have his stuff in the living room already. Although, he thought, it would be funny if Fred and George left another little treat for Dudley, he doubted if his relative's would, And, it would definitely not be a good thing for Mr. Weasley, who worked at the Ministry of Magic, and was a specialist in Muggle Relations and such.

So, he set about picking up all the spare quills, bottles of ink, and pieces of parchment that were lying around his room and putting them in his trunk. An hour later he had all his robes, books, and other things locked away in his trunk. Just as he clicked the top closed, a large tawny owl flew through his window and landed on his bed. As he untied the parchment from his leg, he saw it was a school owl, and the letter he carried had the Hogwarts seal on it

He opened the envelope, knowing what it was, O.W.L. results. Out fell two pieces of parchment. He picked up the first. It had his school supplies and the reminder that term started on the 1st of November, and the Hogwarts Express would leave platform 9 ¾ at 11 o clock. He would need:

The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6, by Miranda Goshawk

Magical Drafts and Potions; Advanced, by Arsenius Jigger

Charms for the N.E.W.T. Scholar, by Gustav Hoffa

The Big Book of Counter curses, and Protection Charms, by Arnold Dean

            And

The Student's Guide to Transfiguration, by Emeric Switch

            The second was, yes, the O.W.L. results. He scanned down the list. He had passed everything. Even Potions. It read:

            Transfiguration: E

            Potions: E

            Charms: O

            Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

            Care of Magical Creatures: O

Herbology: O

Divination: A

Astronomy: E

History of Magic- A

Not bad, he said to himself. 'I wonder what Ron got. Probably decent. And Hermione. Knowing her she got all O's.' He laughed to think what Crabbe and Goyle got. Probably T's.

            Before he knew it, it was 1 o clock and the time for departure had arrived. He lugged his trunk down to the living room, and returned upstairs for Hedwig. As he stuffed her in her cage, he remembered his photo album, hiding under his pillow, open to the page showing his parents on their wedding day, with Sirius. He grabbed it quickly and as he looked down at the smiling figures, he felt tears welling in his eyes. 'How can they be so happy,' he thought' Do they know that they are all going to die, and leave me here all alone. 

            Before the tears trying to escape from his eyes succeeded, he snapped the book close, and regained his mood of happiness, after all he was leaving the Dursley's for the summer and he got to spend the next whole month at the burrow with his two best friends. *sigh*

            He was drawn from his thoughts when he heard a loud bang from downstairs. The Weasleys were here.


	2. Chapter 2, Return to the Burrow

A/N: first of all I made a mistake last chapter. I wrote that school started November first when really it starts September first (hey it rhymes, so it is easy to confuse. They need to make the names of months more differenter so that ppl don't mix them all up!) even tho I sed I wasn't going to write until ppl reviewed (which they didn't o_O argh) im still going to.

Disclaimer- yeah sorry Iforgot the disclaimer in the last chapter, and knowing me I will forget it in chapters to come, so just so everybody knows, I don't own any characters, except a couple which I made up for this story, which I made up.

Return to the Burrow:

            The return to the burrow was positively uneventful. He cleaned his soot covered glasses and looked around to see Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, Luna Lovegood, and Hermione all standing around the kitchen table, smiling at him. Fred, George, and Ron who had returned before him were also standing there, Ron covered in soot as well, the twins clean, they had apparated. Mr. Weasley appeared on the other side of the room, apparating as well. 

 Immediately Hermione ran to him and gave him a big hug. "Happy Birthday!" she said excitedly.

"Thanks," Harry replied, happy to see everyone.

Then he saw the table, brimming with presents. "Wow!" he said staring at them "Are they for me?"

"Yes, dear," said Mrs. Weasley "Come open them."

Harry, overwhelmed at getting so many presents, dug into the pile, ferociously, ripping off wrapping paper.

First was Fred and George's gift, a large amount of Skiving Snackboxes. "We finished them." Said Fred as Harry unwrapped them, "Now we are working on robes that spread ink over any one that touches them, except the owner."

"Just we haven't gotten them to recognize the owner," interrupted George" And we can't get the ink off." He showed Harry a stained arm.

Then came Ron's, Hermione's, Mad Eye's, Tonks, Hagrid's and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's. Apart from getting a whole lot of candy, he received a Pensieve, a book called Quidditch; Strategies, Plays, and Other Ideas from Experts and Players, a book on Occlumency, and a golden Snitch. At receiving the Snitch his memory went back to that night in Snape's classroom, seeing his father on the shore of the lake playing with the Snitch.

He was brought back to reality by Ron's voice, saying, "Let's bring your stuff up to my room."

"Ok," Harry replied.

Harry and Ron grabbed the trunk, while Hermione scooped up all his presents, and Ginny grabbed Hedwig. When they had deposited all the stuff on the floor of Ron's room, and Fred and George had Apparated up. Ron asked, "So what did you get on your O.W.L.'s?"

Harry, who still had the piece of parchment showing his grades in his pocket, grabbed them and threw them at Ron.

"Wow," he said admiringly "You got 9 O.W.L.'s"

"Well how many did you get?" he asked

"Six, I got three D's. One in Potions, One in Divination, and one in History of Magic."

"I got all O's." said Hermione, when asked.

"Good job," said Harry, "So what did you guys tell McGonagall during your career advice session?"

"I told her I wanted to be an Auror," said Ron, "but she told me I had to get five N.E.W.T.S., so I told her maybe I just want to work for the Ministry. Maybe the Department of Magical Games and Sports. She told me that would be a good career to aim for. So she told me to take just the ordinary classes. Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures. Really, it doesnt matter what you take as long as I get two or three N.E.W.T.S. But I'm not taking anything I failed in. What did you say?"

"I told her I wanted to be an Auror, also. She told me it would be really hard but if I had enough determination I could do it. Then she got into a big fight with Umbridge and ended up telling me that she would help me become an Auror if it was the last thing she did. I'm taking the normal subjects too. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology."

"Why in bloody hell are you taking Potions? I thought you hated it…and Snape," Ron said disgustedly.

"Because I need to to become an Auror." Harry replied,  to change the subject, he asked Hermione, "What did you say?"

"I told her I wanted to be headmistress of Hogwarts, after teaching there for awhile," she said proudly.

Ron snorted, "You, headmistress" he laughed

"Why yes" she said indignantly.

"What classes do you need to take, Hermione" asked Ginny, to cover up for her brother's rudeness."

"Professor McGonagall said I should take any subject I am interested in teaching, as well as Transfiguratiion, Charms, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology, and any other class that I want to take."

"And what do you want to teach?" asked Ginny continuing the conversation.

"Transfiguration, I think" she replied.

Suddenly Harry was struck with an idea. "Hermione, Ron," he whispered so the rest couldn't here, " I have a great idea"

"What is it?" asked Ron

"Don't say it know with everyone around," said Hermione, "Wait until later…tell us then."

A/N: that was a kinda short chapter, but it is huge compared to how small the next one is going to be. Please r/r. I'm begging you *begs* please?


	3. Chapter 3:Animagus

A/N: Sorry I haven't written in awhile. I was away for the weekend and now I'm back. Please R/R everybody. If I stop getting reviews I will stop the story, and I know you don't want that.

Animagus:

            That night after dinner Hermione, Harry and Ron played Exploding Snap, while Harry explained his idea.  

            "We could become Animagus," he said, excitedly.

            "Harry," said Hermione sensibly, " It takes a lot of work to become an Animagus."

            "I know that," said Harry defiantly, " but I know the three of us could do it. Think of what we have done already. I've done the Triwizard Tournament. You know N.E.W.T. level spells, and Ron is a prefect, and the best chess player…ever!"

            Hermione, knowing that she wanted to try it, but still reluctant, said, "But Harry, it's dangerous. I mean you could…"

            But her voice faded under the glares of Ron and Harry. "Well maybe we could try it…but not before I read up about it and make sure its safe," she added. She was satisfied, she had been able to get what she wanted, and Harry and Ron didn't know.

            All three thought about what animal they wanted to turn into as they fell asleep, one by one. Harry, the last one to fall asleep, knew what form he wanted to take…a stag.

A/N: Wow that was short. I think I'll load another chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: Age Limit

A/N: This is still short, even if it is longer than the other…but that is it for tonight, or at least until you review.

Age Limit:

            The next morning after breakfast, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George decided to play a game of Quidditch. Harry continued to let the Snitch lose, let it fly around, and then zoom through the field behind their house to catch it. Hermione sat by the field, her nose buried in a book about Animagus, occasionally looking up to see one of the players swoop down near her to retrieve a ball.

            That night they had a larger than usual dinner, as it was Fred and George's last night before they had to return to their shop in Diagon Alley. According to them they needed to be there when school shopping started, but Harry knew they were in a rush to finish their ink cloaks, before it was too late and all their willing customers returned to school.

            The rest of their summer went by, uneventful. They continued to have daily Quidditch games, in which Harry saw that both Ginny and Ron had improved greatly. Hermione continued to read up on Animagus. Every night before they fell asleep, Hermione would fill them in on important facts she had learned in the reading of that day. Then, Ron and Harry would chat animatedly about who they thought would fill the new spots on the Gryffindor House Quidditch Team. 

            One night, discussing the Beaters, Ron said, "I saw Andrew Kirke at Diagon Alley earlier this summer. He had gotten a new broomstick, a Firebolt X, new make, because he made prefect. Anyways, he told me that he had been practicing with Jack Sloper, and they had both gotten better. So good, in fact, he had hit Jack square in the nose from about 650 feet away."

            Harry asked, "Was he aiming for Jack?"

            "Well, no, but he was aiming for the pillow he was holding…close enough." said Ron dismissively, "They'll probably get on anyways, because of winning the Cup and everything last year."

            "Well, if it is anything to you two, I found out today that becoming an Animagi when you are not of age is illegal.  That is unless we have training by another, registered Animagus." interrupted Hermione

            "But who do we know who is an Animagus," asked Ron stupidly.

            "Well," said Harry, "Sirius, my father, Wormtail, but that cant help us because they are all dead," noone bothered to correct the mistake, that wormtail was not dead, he continued, "Rita Skeeter, but she isn't registered. Who do we know who is registered?" asked Harry pensively.

            "Professor McGonagall!" shouted Hermione.

            "Shhhhhhhhhhhh!" scolded Ron and Harry.

            "Oh, sorry. We should ask her when we go back to school. I bet she would help us. Especially after what she said to you last year." said Hermione, quieter.

            They all thought about this, as they drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5:Sarah Maxwell

A/N: I guess this is a kind of long chapter to make up for the last two. Sarah Maxwell is kinda like me in a character, except that im not as pretty as her. *Sigh* I wish I was but….

Sarah Maxwell:

            Before they knew it, summer was over, it was the last day of summer and they were making their yearly trip to Diagon Alley.  After they had all arrived by Floo Powder, they made their way to Flourish and Blotts. They found the books they needed in minutes, and then helped Harry rummage through the shelf filled with Defense Against the Dark Arts books. Soon they found a big book, filled with all sorts of spells and incantations and such, that would be perfect for DA meetings. They also found a book titled, How To Become An Animagus, which had a detailed description of practice methods, the spell, and the aftermath. 

 In line to pay for their things, Hermione stated, "I think we should go to Gringotts next, and then to Madam Malkins. I need some new robes, my others are too small. We should also go to your brother's store, to see how they are doing."

"Good idea." said Ron.

            "Yeah," said Harry, looking down and noticing his robes were about six inches too short, as well, "I need new robes too."

            They left the store and walked down the road to Gringotts, seeing many other Hogwarts students doing their shopping, and waving at some. After a long cart ride down to Harry's vault, he noticed more money in there then he had had last time. He turned, surprised, to the goblin.

            As if reading his mind, or his facial expression, the goblin said, "The gold from vault 752, belonging to the deceased, Sirius Black, has been transferred to your vault.

            "Oh," said Harry, a little less happy about the extra gold, now knowing its whereabouts.

            "A note," the goblin continued, "was left for a Mr. Harry Potter. Is that you, sir?"

            "Yeah," he said. The goblin handed him the note and Harry read:

            _Harry,_

_                        I made sure that when I die, all my gold get transferred to your vault. Buy yourself something nice with it._

_                                                                                                From,_

_                                                                                                            Sirius_

            Harry, holding back tears, grabbed a couple large handfuls of gold, put them in his gold bag, and ambled back into the cart. The trio went back up to the lobby, where Hermione traded in some Muggle money for wizard money.  They walked out into the sunshine.

 After Madam Malkins, where both Hermione and Harry were fitted for new robes, Ron looking as red as ever, they set off to get the rest of their things. They went to the Apothecary, to refill their potions ingredients, Quality Quidditch Supplies, where Harry bought a Snitch to practice with, and another shop to buy some new ink, quills, and parchment.

Then they headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see Fred and George, and stock up one jokes and such for the coming school year. As they entered the store, in replacement of a bell, a lard farting noise was emitted from out of nowhere. They scanned the room, which was filled withal sorts of jokes and pranks. There was a rack on one side with the ink cloaks Fred and George had described over the summer. There was a bunch of shelves in the back of the store by the counter, filled with Skiving Snackboxes, Canary Creams, lollipops that change your tongue colors, and other assorted joke candies. Towards the front of the store there was another bunch of shelves, dedicated to fake wizarding equipment. It held fake wands, leaking cauldrons, brass scales that measured wrong, ink that an hour after writing disappears, and parchment that turns invisible as soon as you write on it.  

As soon as they entered, Fred and George, and their new partner, Lee Jordan, came to the front of the store to meet them.  Ron and Hermione browsed the store, while Fred gave Harry a detailed description of how business was going.  Apparently, businesss was going so well that they put a three person loft above the store for him, George, and Lee.  They also had doubled the Triwizard Tournament money, and given a lot of it to their mom.  

"She never would have accepted straight out, silly woman," explained George, "We had to deposit it in her account. We have our own account now. Positively brimming with gold. But were gonna have to spend a lot of it. We're developing a broomstick charm that bucks off everyone except the owner. We'll sell the potion separate from the brooms, but we have to buy a bunch of brooms to test. And we have to buy semi-expensive ones too, because the older models, buck you off anyways."

"Oh, and we got the best idea from you Harry, in second year," interjected Lee, "Rogue Bludgers, y'know like the one that chased you. We're making up a whole line. There's also going to be disappearing Snitches, and Quaffles, with little holes filled with a liquid that makes it really slippery. Oh, and Beater clubs, that look and feel real, but when you go to hit a Bludger, you would be better off with a piece of string. It gets really soft, like a pillow. We are actually pretty far into that line. Just a couple of adjustments to make, before we put it out on the market."

Harry nodded to all this, and the three of them left, after saying good bye and buying some candy, and a bottle of disappearing ink. They walke back out onto the street, and decided to go get some ice cream. As they sat down at a table in front of Florian Fortesque's ice cream parlor, a beautiful girl, who was obviously a waitress, came over to them. She had long dark hair, that went down almost to her hips, and was shining in the sunlight. She had deep hazel eyes set in a perfect olive-skinned face. She was smiling brightly, and Harry saw that her teeth were all perfect, as well as the rest of her. She was tall, almost as tall as Harry, and she was curvy.

"Hello, What can I get you?" she asked sweetly, flashing her brilliant smile again.

"Three raspberry and peanut butter cones," said Hermione, stifling a giggle at Ron and Harry's behavior, both of which were staring at her mouths open. "Snap out of it," she said to them after the girl had left to get their ice creams.

"Sorry," said Harry shaking his head, as if bringing himself back to reality, but still staring in the direction which she had left.

"She looks like she could be our age," said Ron, also staring in that direction

"Well why don't you ask her?" retorted Hermione, clearly not liking the fact that their attention had been stolen away by the girl. Soon she had returned and Ron asked if she went to Hogwarts.

"I do," she replied, "This is my first year though, I just moved here from New York." That explained the evident non-British accent.

"Well what year are you in?" asked Hermione.

"Sixth," she replied, "And I'm in Ravenclaw. I already got the notice from Dumbledore. What year are you in?"

"Sixth too," said Harry, coming out of a sort of trance, as she had obviously directed this question at him, "but we are in Gryffindor."

"Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around. By the way, my name is Sarah Maxwell. What's yours?"

"I'm Harry Potter, this is Ron Weasley and this is Hermione Granger," Harry pointed to each of his friends in turn, and noticed that Sarah did not do the usual glance at his scar. He liked it.

"Nice to meet you, Harry, Ron, Hermione, but I have to get back to work. Bye."

They said their good byes, finished their ice cream and left, Harry still gazing longingly at the ice cream place, watching Sarah walk around, doing her job. "Have you finished drooling," asked Hermione, snapping Harry back to reality, "Seriously, the two of you together could fill a lake."

"Sorry," they both said, and headed back to Flourish and Blotts, where they were meeting Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.

What they saw when they got back to the Burrow that night was a huge surprise. Laying there on Harry's bed was a Firebolt X.

"Where did you get that?" asked Ron, a mixture of surprise and jealousy on his face.

Hermione, looking very suspicious, said "I wonder who gave you that."

"I did." They turned around to see Mr. Weasley in the doorway. "Well, not actually me, Sirius. Before he died he told me that he always wanted you to have the best. He told me he planned to buy you the newest broomstick everytime it came out. And so, when this new model came out, I took some of the money from is vault, not yours, before they moved it, and bought you this. Hope you like it."

"I do," he said looking it over, "Well, Ron, you're a lucky kid today , because you get my old broom."

"Wow!" said Ron, thanking him numerous times, and picking up the Firebolt and running it along his fingers. They had a quiet last night of summer dinner. Well, quiet exceot for the numerous thanks of Harry to Mr. Weasley, Ron to Harry, and Ginny to Ron, she had acquired the Cleansweep 11 that was Ron's. Lupin had come by to tell them that he would be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, to much rejoice, and that he would see them tomorrow.

Finally they all went upstairs to do some last minute packing before bed.


	6. Chapter Six: Back to Hogwarts

Back to Hogwarts:

Harry was woken the next morning by Mrs. Weasley. He squinted across the dark room and saw that Hermione and Ron had already been woken and were stumbling around in the dark, still half asleep. He got up out of bed, and turned on the light for them.

"What did you do that for?" asked Ron, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the bright light.

"Because, you have to get up and get downstairs. We are leaving in a half hour." scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"Sorry I asked," Ron mumbled under his breath, as he pulled on a pair of Muggle jeans.

Harry put on his glasses and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. He found wizard clothes to be more comfortable, but knew that he had to wear this, at least until he got on the school train. He accompanied Ron downstairs, where he already saw Hermione and Ginny eating a plateful of eggs. He sat down next to Hermione, and said Good morning to the two of them. He dug into his own plate, which was brimming with bacon and eggs.

When he had finished, which was quickly since he was starving, he put his dishes in the sink, where they were automatically cleaned and put away. He went upstairs to get his trunk, and to put Hegwid in his cage, and then dragged them down the steps and outside to the waiting Ministry car,(the Minister was feeling very sympathetic to Harry and gratefully supplied them with a car).

After they had stuffed all of their trunks into the trunk, they ambled into the back seat with Hedwig, Pigwidgeon in their cages, and Crookshanks in a massive wicker basket.

In a couple of minutes, they had arrived at London Train Station. They unloaded all their stuff onto carts,  and headed toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Alrigtht, you and Ron first," Mrs. Weasley said, nodding at Harry and Ron. They took off at a run towards the barrier with their carts in front of them. Soon they had passed right through the barrier onto a large platform filled with people, and hosting a huge red train.

"Harry, Ron!" They looked over to see Neville and his grandmother, in the vulture-topped hat, running over to them. Soon he joined Ron and Harry, and now, Hermione and Ginny, who had just come through the barrier. 

"Hi Neville!" said Hermione, and every body else said hi.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley then came through the barrier. They said hello to Neville's grandmother.  

Neville asked, "So how was your summers?"

"Good," they all replied. "How was yours?" added Harry.

"Good too, I'm going out with Luna." He said turning red.

"Really that's great!' said Ginny politely, making him turn even redder.

Before their conversation could get any deeper, a loud whistle sounded. We better get on the train. They said good-bye to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and grabbed their trunks. On their way to get on the train they met up with Luna Lovegood. She gave Neville an awkward hug and said, "Hello Neville, hello everyone."

"Hello Luna," said Neville dreamily, "Did you have fun over the summer with your dad?"

"Yeah. We came really close to catching a Crumple-Horned Snorcack. I saw one." she said proudly.

"Oh," said Neville, obviously not getting the answer he wanted. "Well let's get on board."

The six friends boarded the train, and started down the corridor looking for a place to sit.  In the first compartment they looked in they saw the normal Slytherin gang. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and her friends, but Malfoy was not there. They continued down the corridor looking for an empty compartment, when they came across a blonde boy alone in the last compartment of the train.

Harry cleared his throat, "Ahem, do you think we could, er, share this compartm-"

The rest of the words got jammed in his throat when he saw who the blond boy was. It was Draco Malfoy.

            "I was just leaving," came his answer. "But since you're here, I think I should have a word with you Potter." As Ron and Hermione, walked up to stand on either side of him, Malfoy added, "Alone."

            "Sure," he said confused, and shut the compartment door on his friends. 

            "I just wanted to, er, say, er thanks." Malfoy stuttered. From Harry's bewildered look, Draco knew he needed to continue on and tell him what for. "For, er, getting rid of my dad, er. Well, I er well, I always hated him, and er I think he got what he deserved."

            "Oh," said Harry, taken aback.

            "And I'm sorry, er, for all the mean things I've done to you.  It was only because I had to."

            "Why?" asked Harry. Who was making him do all these mean things?

            "Because my dad told me to. And I have to do what my dad says. And now that he is gone, I hope that you can forgive me. Because I never meant any of it. I don't even believe in Mudbloods and purebloods. That is just what I was told to know and to say. And I hope you, and Hermione and Ron, and Neville, and….Ginny," when he said her name his face turned beet red, "can forgive me"

            "Well I'll definitely tell them that you said sorry." Said Harry, stiffly. He was definitely not trusting Malfoy. Although, he was not with his Slytherin friends, and he was alone, and he showed his vulnerable side to Harry of all people, and that his eyes looked bloodshot, Harry could not bring himself to apologize back to his 5-year tormenter, or to say he forgave him. 

            Obviously, expecting some other recognition than 'I'll tell them', Draco turned red in the face and walked out of the compartment awkwardly. When he followed Draco out he saw that Ron and Hermione had left to the prefects cabin, and Ginny, Neville, and Luna had found an mpty compartment right across from the one he had just been in, and had taken theirs, Ron's Hermione's and Harry's things inside.

            "What was that all about?" asked Ginny curiously.

            "Draco…thanked me for getting rid of his dad…and apologized for being so mean to us all these years." Said Harry still a little surprised, suspicious, and confused.

            "He did what?" asked Neville, equally surprised.

            "He asked for our forgiveness."

            "That sounds a little fishy to me," stated Luna.

            "I know but that would explain why he was all alone, without his Slytherin friends.." argued Ginny

            "And why he was crying before we got there." agreed Harry.

            "How do you know he was crying?" asked Neville.

            "His eyes were all bloodshot when he was talking to me."

            "I still don't trust him." said Luna stubbornly.

            "Well he didn't ask for your forgiveness. He asked for mine, Ron's, Hermione's, Neville's, and…Ginny's." Harry remembered Draco's change of color, at saying her name, and now saw the same exact thing in Ginny's. If he didn't know Ginny..or Draco better, for that matter, he would say they were in love.

He looked deep into Ginny's eyes, trying to find out if it was true, but she turned her gaze away, and asked, "Anybody up for a game of Exploding Snaps?"

"Sure," said Neville, and he and Luna nodded. She put down her upside-down copy of the Quibbler, and sat down on the floor of the compartment, with Ginny, Neville, and Harry. After Harry had won three games in a row, and the Malfoy topic, had been all talked out, they heard a knock on the door. And in walks Sarah Maxwell.

"Hi Sarah," said Harry

"Hey Harry," she said, remembering him, but looking around at all the people she didn't recognize.

Harry, noticing her quizzical looks said, "Uh...these are my friends, Neville, Luna and Ginny. Ginny is Ron's sister, you remember Ron?"

"Oh yeah, hi, I'm Sarah, Sarah Maxwell. Are you guys all sixth years too?" she asked.

"I am," came Neville's response.

"We aren't though," said Ginny, "We are in fifth. What house are you in?"

"Ravenclaw," she said, "but my brother is a Hufflepuff, he's a first year. Are you all in Gryffindor?"

"I'm not, but everyone else is. I'm a Ravenclaw, too!" answered Luna, happily.

"Oh it's good to meet someone in my own house," she said, flashing that brilliant smile, that just made Harry melt. "Well do you think that I could join you? I don't really know anybody here."

"Of course," said Harry, enthusiastically, so enthusiastically, that he scared himself. "I've been meaning to ask you, why did you move here?"

She then told to the occupants of the compartment, the story of how she had lived in New York, and gone to Danbury Academy, when she had gotten a letter from Albus Dumbledore, saying that she should move to this school.  The letter said that housing and transportation was provided and that we should come as soon as the family was packed. She told how Florian Fortesque was her uncle and he gave her a summer job there. Then, Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville told her all about the houses the teachers, the classes, the meals, Hogsmeade, and the Quidditch at Hogwarts. She seemed thoroughly impressed with the curriculum, food, and Quidditch, disgusted at the Slytherins and Snape, and excited about her first visit to Hogsmeade.

Before they knew it, an hour had gone by, and Ron and Hermione had come back. They arrived just as Harry had finished buying a mound of sweets for the group to munch on. They said hello to Sarah and took the Chocolate frogs Harry handed them.

"So, what did Malfoy say to you, he looked really irked at the prefects meeting, and kept staring at us."

Soon, Harry, Luna and Neville had retold the tale adding all the possibilities that they had discussed earlier.

"Hmmm…." said Hermione thoughtfully.

"What?" asked Harry.

"That would explain the row that I saw him having with Pansy Parkinson after the meeting. She looked really made at him." She replied.

"Well whatever it is I think he's on our side now," said Ginny, startling them all, because she had been quiet until then.

They all looked at her, and she turned red again.


	7. Chapter 7: Dream Not Remembered

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating in so long. Yes I know but I had extreme writers block, but its done so enjoy.

The Dream Not Remembered:

            The odd looks continued, as Ron said, "We better get changed. We should be there soon."

            "Good idea," said Harry breaking away from his look at Ginny.

            They all changed into their Hogwarts robes, and just in time. As soon as they had pulled the uniforms over their heads, a whistle blew, and the train slowed into a stop at Hogsmeade Station. They walked off the train, and headed toward the line of wagons pulled by thestrals.

            "What are those things?" asked Sarah.

            "You can see them?" asked Harry surprised.

            "Yes can't you?" she asked everybody.

            "They can, but me, Ginny, and Hermione can't.," said Ron.

            "Why not?" she asked startled.

            "Well, they are thestrals, and thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen death." explained Luna.

            "Wait," interrupted Hermione, "If we saw Sirius die, than why can't we see them?"

            "Sirius who?" asked Sarah, now even more confused.

            "Hermione!" scolded Harry, "Tell the whole world, why don't you?"

            "Sorry," she said turning red.

            "S'Alright, Sarah, can this wait til later. It is a really long story, and I don't really feel in the mood to talk about it right now. I'll tell you though," he said when he saw her face get a little sadder. For some reason he didn't want to make her said, in fact he had a strong urge to make her happy. To cheer up he said, "Well anyways, lets get up too the feast, I'm starving. Sarah, Luna, you guys can sit at Gryffindor table if you want, but you don't have to. I know how you Ravenclaws like to bond on the first day of school," he said, giving a funny little smirk at Luna, whom had told him that her roommates stole her belongings, last year.

            "Hahaha, very funny, I think I will sit at your table," she said defiantly.

            "Well, I don't want to be all alone at Ravenclaw table, so I'm going to sit with you guys too!" said Sarah.

            "Sounds good, but we better get into some carriages before they're all taken up," interrupted Ron.

            Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Sarah quickly hopped into the nearest carriage, and Ginny, Neville, and Luna got into the one behind them.  They sat in silence during the long bumpy trip up to the castle, and stayed quiet as hey ambled out of the carriages and up the steps. It wasn't until they entered the Great Hall, was the silence broken by Sarah, "So, where do we sit?"

            "Over there," said Hermione, pointing. They walked over to the table, and sat down. Before long, the Sorting has begun. Sarah was fascinated by the magic hat, but every one else was absorbed in their own thoughts. Especially Harry. It was obvious to anyone that was paying attention to him (aka noone) what he was thinking. He had his head in his ends, staring at Sarah, and his eyes were glazed over.

 There were seven new Gryffindors, eight new Ravenclaws, five more Hufflepuffs, and six more Slytherins, but Harry took no notice of any of them. And when the Sorting hat was removed by Professor McGonagall, Harry still didn't look up. It wasn't until the food appeared, and Sarah's attention was moved from the front of the room to the plates right in front of her, that Harry snapped out of the trance. It wasn't easy though, and it took Sarah saying to him, "Don't stare at me when I'm eating!" for him to realize where he was. As soon as he did though, his stomach started growling, and he starte piling liberal amounts of food onto his plate.

After the puddings disappeared, Luna and Sarah made their departure to the Ravenclaw common room, and the rest of the group to their own. After Ron said the password, Hinklypunk, and the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open, Herry went straight up to the dormitories, and lay on his bed. For the first time since Sirius' death, Harry did not think of him as he lay there trying to sleep. It was thoughts of Sarah that were going through his mind. Her perfect skin, her brilliant smile, her deep beautiful smile. This is what he thought of before he went to bed that first night of term.

Unfortunately, these thoughts were not the basis of the dream he had that night.

'Harry Potter was in the large stone circular room in the Department of Mysteries. There, in the center was the veil. Although Harry had seen this scene in his head a thousand times, this time was different. Usually, he saw the events, as he himself had seen them that night. Now, he saw them in the eyes of Sirius. He could see himself on the other side of the room, dragging Neville up the steps. He saw Bellatrix Lestrange, standing right there in front of him. He saw her attack and he ducked. Then he said, although not in his own voice, in Sirius's, Come on you can do better than that! Then a flash of light and he was falling. Finally, what seemed ages late, he opened his eyes. He was in a dimly lit tunnel. He turned around to see the veil, so he could go back through, but instead of a veil there, there was a huge oaken door, with a rusty handle and keyhole. He grabbed the doorknob, and rattled it. Nothing happened. He took out his wand and shouted, Alohamora. Still nothing happened. The door was locked, and it wouldn't open.  He looked down the dark tunnel. He somehow knew not to go down there. So, he sat by the wall, and he waited.'

A/N: I'm not quite done with chapter 8 or whatever chapter it is so it might be a day or two, but my parents are being evil and cutting my internet time, so hopefully it will be up there soon.


	8. Chapter 8:the new and improved dumbledor...

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I went on vacation, and it took a long time to write, but here it is.

The new and improved Dumbledore's Army:

He awoke the next morning, not remembering anything of the dream. He looked over to Ron's bed. He was gone. Harry got dressed and headed down the dormitory steps to the common room. When he got down, Ron and Hermione were waiting for them.

"Good morning Harry!" said Hermione cheerily.

" Morning," he said yawning.

"There's a trip to Hogsmeade in two weeks. Should be fun" said Ron, pointing to a notice posted on the bulletin board.

"Yeah," said Harry. In the back of his head he was making a mental note to ask Sarah to go with him to Hogsmeade. "Let's go get some breakfast."

They nodded in agreement and they headed down to the Great Hall. When they sat down, Harry absentmindedly, glanced over to the Ravenclaw table where Sarah was sitting with Luna and a couple of other Ravenclaws. Harry noted that he was not the only one looking at her. Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, two members of the DA, were also staring at her, as were some Hufflepuffs. When Sarah caught his eye, she and Luna got up and made their way over to the Gryffindor table. She sat down next to Harry, and said excitedly, "There is going to be a Hogsmeade weekend soon. I'm so excited. It's going to be so much fun!"

"Yeah, er, would you like me to show you around the place?" asked Harry nervously. His stomach did a backflip similar to the time when he had asked Cho out, but this time it was different. Instead of a feeling of nervousness and fear of rejection, it was a feeling of hopefulness, and well, some nervousness.

But before she could answer there was aloud rustle of feathers, and some shrill hoots. It was mail time. (Here is where I would break out into The mailtime song from blue's clues, but I'll refrain.) Sarah jumped. It was not only from surprise. It was also because a large owl had landed right in front of her and spilled her pumpkin juice all over her, Harry, and Luna, who were seated beside her. Hermione did a quick spell to clean it all up, before turning to her letter. In fact all of them had gotten a letter, and it was all in the same parchment, with the Hogwarts seal! It turned out that a little less than thirty people had received the envelope. They all tore it open and found a short note, on heavy parchment written in green ink. It said:

_You have been selected to be in a club called Dumbledore's Army. It is a Defense Against the Dark Arts club, which has been extended over the summer, and a new leader has been picked. I, Albus Dumbledore, will be teaching the club, and have hand selected some of the finer students of the school who have the potential to excel in a club such as this. In fact the students who attended club meetings regularly last term all received Outstandings on their Defense Against the Dark Art exams. The first meeting will be held at __7:00__ on Thursday night. I hope to see you there._

_                                                            Albus Dumbledore_

"What is this?" asked Sarah

"Well," started Ron, "The DA is a club that me Hermione and Harry started last year, because our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was a total bloody Nazi!"

"You can say that again." Said Ginny

"She was a total bloody Nazi. Anyways, she forbid any clubs so we had to practice in secret. Harry taught everyone. And then a girl told and we couldn't practice anymore. Dumbledore took the blame, and was fired. But he's back now."

"And a good thing too" added Hermione. "But I don't think Umbridge would have stayed even if Dumbledore didn't come back."

"Why not?" asked Sarah.

"Because of Fred and George, my twin brothers." Said Ginny "They pulled humungous pranks on her, and when she found out who it was, it was too late they grabbed their broomsticks and flew out, in the Great Hall in front of everyone. And after that everyone played pranks on her until the day she fled with Peeves at her heels."

They all laughed in reminiscence, but Sarah asked, "Who is Peeves?"

"Our poltergeist. He's always causing trouble. Doesn't listen to anyone, but the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost, or Fred and George." explained Harry

"Oh." She then picked up her schedule which was being handed out by teachers. "Hmm lets see. I have every class with you Harry except for Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. I'm taking Ancient Runes instead." Harry smiled to himself. He loved the new schedules that did not require you to be only in a class with your house. 

"I have every class with you too! And I'm taking Ancient Runes." She said looking at Harry's schedule.

"I've got everything with you lot too, except potions," Ron said with a shudder. "Hey we've got Defense Against the Dark Arts tomorrow. I can't wait to have another Lupin class. Remember the first time we ever had a class with him?"

"Oh yeah, Snape in that dress. That was my all time favorite class." Said Hermione laughing. 

As they walked out of the Great Hall on their way to their common rooms to get their books, Sarah said to Harry, "I'd love to go to Hogsmeade with you." And she walked off in the direction of the Ravenclaw tower.

He walked into Potions ten minutes later with his books and sat down next to Hermione. He took out his cauldron and potion ingredients, and thought to himself, 'This year I'm gonna do this class right. I'm not going to let that stupid git Snape make fun of me anymore. I'm going to pay attention and prove him wro-' He stopped paying attention. Sarah had walked in. She was talking animatedly to Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, and she sat down in front of Harry, and partnered up with Terry, while Anthony paired himself with Ernie Macmillian. Draco Malfoy was paired with Neville, who seemed happy that he was partnered with Snape's favorite student. The rest of the Slytheirns were glaring at Draco. If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead on the floor.

Snape walked in angry and sour as usual, and started talking immediately about the potion they would be working on that day, without even looking up. When he did, he stopped short in his explanation and said, "Malfoy, interesting choice of partners. I would expect you to pick someone who is not so much of a blubbering idiot."

Malfoy remained silent, and Neville turned red. The Slytherins smirked but everybody else glared at Snape. "Very well then, if you insist. So, the ingredients you will be needing for the Veritaserum are on the board and you can go get your ingredients from the cabinet.

By the end of class, everybody had managed to successfully brew the first part of the Veritaserum, except for Crabbe and Goyle. Even Neville's was perfect, because of his partner. 

"We will finish our potion next class and I would like two rolls of parchment on the uses of Veritaserum by Wednesday. Three for Crabbe and Goyle."

"Can you believe it," said Neville as they were leaving the classroom, "two rolls of parchment on the first day of school!"

"That Veritaserum smelt absolutely awful," said Sarah.

"It did, I swear I was going to puke." said Hermione. 

They walked up into the Great Hall, still discussing the class, and their hatred for Snape when Katie Bell walked over to Harry and Ron, "Harry, Ron, we have Quidditch practice and tryouts on Friday at seven."

"OK, see you then," said Harry

"So, we have Care of Magical Creatures now. It's going to stink without Hagrid. I suspect he's still working on the giants." Said Ron.

"Yeah maybe," said Harry glumly, not looking forward to the class in which he would probably learn to ride a unicorn. That seemed boring after taking a ride on a hippogriff.

"Well. I'm glad I'm no tin that class anymore. Although it was fun being with Hagrid, sometimes I think he is a little much, if you know what I mean. Plus, what's the point if he's not there anyway." said Hermione.

"Yeah," said Harry absentmindedly. He wasn't paying attention to Hermione, he was paying attention to Sarah, who had crossed the room and sat down at the Ravenclaw table next to Luna, Terry, and Anthony.

"Harry!" He snapped back to reality.

"W-What?" he stuttered.

"Aren't you paying any attention to us? Hermione just said that she thinks we should talk to Professor McGonagall now." explained Ron

"For what?" asked Harry.

"Animagi!" said Ron, a little too loud. Fortunately, nobody heard him.

"Ron! Could you be a little quieter?" scolded Hermione. He just glared back at her.

"Oh, right, yeah. Lets go." said Harry, ignoring his friends glaring at each other. And he turned around and left, up to the transfiguration wing.

When they got there they saw Professor McGonagall at her desk, muttering something under her breath. "Professor?" Hermione said, getting her attention.

She looked up, startled, "Yes? Do you three need something?"

"Well, Professor, we've been reading up this summer, well I've been reading up this summer and we want to become Animagi, but we're underage and the only way we can do it legally is to get  a registered Animagi to give us lessons, and we were wondering if you could," said Hermione, all in one breath.

It seemed that Professor McGonagall was thinking this over, as it took a while for her to finally answer, "I'd have to talk it over with the Headmaster, but I think that it should be ok. I will inform you of when are first lesson will be, but you know you are going to have to work extremely hard at this." She looked over each of their nodding faces, and then when she seemed satisfied, she picked up a pile of papers and left them there.

"Well," said Ron breaking the silence, "That was easier than I thought it would be," and he gave a small smile.  Then they all broke into huge grins, and walked happily toward the Great Hall to catch the end of lunch.

After they ate the remains of the stew that had been served for lunch, Ron and Harry set off across the great lawn, still happy about the Animagi lessons. When they got there, they joined the crowd that was gathering by the forest. Harry had been wrong. They were not going to learn how to ride unicorns. They were learning about thestrals.

"Now, I know some of you will not be able to see the thestrals, but Hagrid told me to continue the lessons from last year about them," came Professor Grubby-Plank's voice from the center of the group. Ron, Neville and Harry looked at each other. They didn't need lessons. They had flown them all the way to the Ministry of Magic just last year. "Now follow me into the forest." said the Professor.They started walking into the forest with the group, when Malfoy joined them.

"Well, I guess I'm joining the club of people who can see the thestrals," he said with a sigh. Harry gave him a questioning look that led him to explain further. "When the Ministry came in to get my parents, they're was a bunch of Death Eaters over, and they killed Avery." Malfoy then got a glazed over look in his eyes, then shook his head chasing the thought away, "Evil bastard deserved it." There was a finality in his voice, that warned them not to venture into it further.

Finally, the class reached a clearing, where Professor Grubby-Plank laid down a chunk of meat and whistled, just as Hagrid had done last year. Soon enough, half a dozen thestrals appeared from the clearing. "Now, I would like anyone who can see the thestrals to step forward."

Harry, Neville, and Malfoy were the only people to step forward. "Well ok, better fewer than more in this case," she said to herself, then to them, "Well if you would just approach one of the thestrals," she said nodding in the totally opposite direction of where the thestrals were. Obviously, she could not see them. This made Harry think. Could Hagrid see them, or did he just have a lot of experience with them?

"Harry, please follow directions." she said sharply, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"W-what? Oh, right." He turned red and walked up to the thestral nearest to him, and put his hand on its gray head.

"Now class, can anybody tell me why a thestral can only be seen by certain people?" Several students raised their hand. "Miss Brown?"

"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have seen…" she paused dramatically, imitating Professor Trelawney when she was about to make a prediction, "…death."

Some of the class gasped, but Ron only rolled his eyes and threw a look at Lavender that clearly said, 'she's crazy'. The professor, however, said, "Very well, Miss Brown, five points to Gryffindor. Thestrals can be very dangerous creatures if not taken seriously, but they can also be very handy." Harry could have sworn she had looked directly at him when she said this. "They can be ridden, flying or walking. They also serve an important purpose on the grounds at Hogwarts. Does anybody know what it is?" Now only Ron and the people who could see the thestrals raised their hands. "Mr. Weasley?"

"They pull the carriages from the train station to the castle on the first day of school," he said, proud that he had been the one to answer.

"Correct again. Another five points to Gryffindor." Ron smiled, and blushed. "So..umm..Sir? How many thestrals are there now?" she said this looking at Draco. He turned around and counted  all the thestrals that had now crowded into the clearing. "9" he said once he had finished.

"Ok then, today, class we are going to be riding the thestrals. I need the three of you to lead Lavender, Parvati, Anthony, Terry, Ron, Justin, Ernie, Crabbe and Goyle to a thestral.," she waited while they were all shown to a thestral and had ther hands on its head. "Now get on your thestral," she waited again, but this time it took longer. Ron managed to get right on, which surprised the class, but everybody else was having trouble, and soon Harry Draco and Neville were helping everybody up. "ok now go!' She flailed her arms around, and hit a thestral nearby in the but. It took off quickly, and made Lavender scream.

"It's ok dear, it's ok!" she shouted up to her, and she calmed down. Then everybody else took off, to shouts of glee. 

After they had finished their ride and the next group had gone and landed, the class was over and they headed back to the castle for their next class.

Thursday night soon approached, along with it the first DA meeting of the year. Harry was excited, and wondered what they were going to be learning this year as he walked down the steps to the Great Hall, where the meeting was to be held. He sat down in between Sarah and Ron, and watched the rest of the members filter slowly into the Hall and take seats. When everybody had entered there was just short of 30 people, the majority being Gryffindors. He noticed that Draco and Ginny kept exchanging nervous glances across the table. He and Ron exchanged glances and Ron was about to say something, when Dumbledore walked in, flanked by McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin. 

"Welcome," came his booming voice. "You are all members of Dumbledore's Army. Most of you were in this club last year, but for those who were not, Dumbledore's Army is a club started by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, in which students can learn offensive and defensive spells to fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

At Voldemort's name, several people flinched. Dumbledore noticed. "Fear of a name, only increases fear of the thing itself. Noone should ever fear saying the name Voldemort." This time noone made any obvious objection, although a couple of people shifted in their seats uncomfortably. "Now, for the new people and for those who have not yet mastered it, we are going to start the year with the Patronus Charm, which is a spell to deter dementors.  May I ask Harry Potter to come to the front to demonstrate?" It was not a question but a command. So, Harry got up and went to the front of the room.

When he stood up there is face turned red, and he looked out at the rest of the students, feeling foolish. Then he caught Sarah's eye, and she smiled, he turned even redder, but thougt of that first day at Diagon Alley when he met her, and said strongly, "Expecto Patronum." His usual silver stag erupted from his wand and galloped around the room, but instead of fading away like it usually did, it stayed, and walked around surveying everyone.

"Good Job Harry! You can go back to your seat now." Dumbledore then turned to the rest of the class and said, "Now, focus on a happy thought, and say the words Expecto Patronum."

Harry went back and sat next to Hermione. Everyone else had stood up and the hall was filled with students yelling Expecto Patronum. He watched Sarah trying the spell. She noticed him staring at her, turned red, and tried again to no avail. Harry also turned red and turned away. But it wasn't long before he was looking at her again. This time, however, it was for a different reason. She had produced a patronus,  and it was…a doe. At the moment this happened, Harry's stag from before came galloping across the room towards them. Fortunately, by then everyone was watching the two Patronus and didn't notice Harry and Sarah's beet red faces. The two Patronus merged into one bright silver light that blinded everyone, and then burst into a million stars that snowed onto the students, amongst cheering, partly because of excitement, and partly because the stars seemed to lift away all sorrows as they touched them.

After the excitement died down and Harry and Sarah's blushing faded to pink, Draco made an eagle Patronus fly around the room. Watching the eagle, Harry's eyes rested on Dumbledore and McGonagall whispering to each other at the Head Table. He strained his ears to hear them, but the noise of the students all around him drowned out everything. The only thing he could make out was, 'Harry,' 'patronus,' and 'what does it mean'

What did it mean? Why had his patronus acted so weird? Why was Sarah's patronus a doe? Maybe it was a sign, but what did it mean?!

He kept thinking along these lines, until Dumbledore stood up and said, "Good job, everybody! Because of Quidditch practices and homework, we will not have another meeting until next Thursday, same time, same place."

He stood up to leave, and Sarah said, "Good night Harry." "Good night" he said awkwardly back. Then he walked out of the Great Hall and up to Gryffindor Tower, were he flopped on his bed and fell immediately asleep. He had the same dream as the first night back at school, except this time he remembered it. He woke up with a start and said, "The key." …………

*

A/N: That better be long enough for you! That has got to be the longest chapter possibly in the whole story thus far. Well now I better get started on chapter 9. I don't think it will  be quite so long, but I won't even bother unless I get at least three reviews, even if you only say one word!


	9. Chapter 9: Quidditch Practice

Quidditch Practice:

He quickly got out of bed and ran out of the dormitory and down the steps to the empty dormitory, before he realized that it was five o'clock in the morning, and Dumbledore, if he was even awake, would not be able to talk to Harry. He sat down in a chair by the fireplace and stared at the crackling fire as tears rolled down his cheeks.   

'What was he kidding? Sirius was dead. Some stupid dream was not going to change that.' He thought angrily to himself. 'Even if that stupid dream was real, how was he going to get the key, if it did exist? If he somehow got the key, what could he do about it?' But still in the back of his head a little voice said, 'You can save him. You can'

_He was in the room again, he ran to Sirius's side. He fell through the veil, and he was in that dark cave. He saw Sirius sitting against the wall. His heart begins to beat faster at the sight of his godfather. He clutched his chest, and there it was in his hands, a large rusty gold key. He turned around and faced the door. He noticed that the key was similar to handle of the huge oak door. He reached his hand out and was being shaken by someone. He turned around to see who it was._

It was Hermione. Harry was back in the common room, in the arm chair by the fire. "Harry? Good, you're up. It's eight o'clock already. If you don't hurry up and get down to breakfast you are going to miss Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry stood up and shook the sleep from his body. He headed back up to the dormitory to put n some clothes, and then returned back to the common room to accompany Hermione down to breakfast.

They arrived in the Great Hall to Ron, who was waiting for them with a plate full of sausages. "Where were you guys? I've been waiting for ages," he said after swallowing a piece of toast.

"Sorry, I overslept," said Harry apologetically. He sat down and started piling eggs onto his plate.

They finished their breakfast in silence, and continued in this manner until they arrived in Lupin's classroom. They took a seat, and it wasn't long before Professor Lupin walked in with a cheery smile. "Good morning class!"

"Good morning," the class grumbled.

"Since this is Defense Against the Dark Arts, I'm going to teach you, today, the most commonly used defense spell, the Stunning Spell. Although most of you already now the basics to this spell, there is a deeper science behind it, and a technique that can improve the strength of the spell buy almost eighty percent."

It turns out the technique was to imagine them laying on the floor unconscious when you say it. Well, let's just say it worked. "Ron are you sure you're ok?" asked Hermione for the hundredth time as they left the class. He had been Harry's partner and spent most of the class on the floor. He was now limping down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you guys at lunch." Then they parted, Ron heading for the Gryffindor tower, and the rest of the group heading down to the dungeons. They got to Potions just before Snape, and grabbed the last seats there.

"Today, we will be finishing the Veritaserum Potion. Directions are on theboard. I will be collecting a bottle of it at the end of class." He looked up at the class, scowling when he came on the Malfoy, Longbottom pairing, and then said, "Get started."

By the end of class, everybody, except Crabbe and Goyle, had a bottle of red potion. "Oh, and I almost forgot, pass forward your essays on Veritaserum. Harry fished his out of his bag. He thought it was rather good. He had written an extra half parchment. Snape said Accio and they all flew toward at the same time that the bell rang. He grabbed his stuff and walked to Gryffindor Tower where he found Ron playing wizard chess with his sister. "O hey Harry," he said, "Let's go down to lunch."

They went down to the Great Hall and sat down next to Luna, Ginny, Sarah and Hermione who were all at the Gryffindor Table. "So what else do we have today?" he asked Hermione as he sat down.

"Transfiguration and Charms."

"OK" he answered. He finished his lunch and walked out of the Great Hall with his friends.

After Transfiguration he went, with Ron and Ginny to the Quidditch fields. He pulled on his robes. He looked around and saw Katie, Andrew, Jonathon, Ron and Ginny. There were three or four other people that Harry didn't recognize. They were the people that were trying out for the last Chaser spot. He grabbed his Firebolt X and went out on the field. 

Katie started talking to the people who were trying out. "I assume that since you are trying out you know how to play Quidditch. Unfortunately we only have one spot open, so three of you will not make it. The open spot is Chaser. This is the rest of our team. I'm Katie Bell. I'm captain and Chaser. The other Chaser is Ginny. Our Keeper is Ron, our Beaters are Andrew and Jonathon, and our Seeker is Harry. Now, for tryouts…."

Harry zoned out on her and started looking at the stands. He saw Sarah there, with Hermione and Neville. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Harry! What are you looking at? You were supposed to kick off! Who is tha- Is she in Gryffindor? It's that Ravenclaw girl. Hey" she shouted at Sarah. "Hey, you can't be here! This is Gryffindor tryouts! Only Gryffindors are allowed!

"Katie, it's ok!" Harry shouted over her.

"No, Harry it's not. We can not have a Ravenclaw at our tryouts!"

"It's ok Harry," said Sarah, "I'll go."

"Well I'll see you later."

"Harry, kickoff."

He did. He played hard. He let the Snitch go, waited a couple of seconds, and had it in less than a minute. He continued doing this for awhile. Once he saw the Snitch by the goalposts and when he caught it Ron asked, "What was that all about?"

"Katie doesn't want any Ravenclaws at practices."

"Oh," he said as Harry zoomed away again to get the Snitch, dodging a bludger. At the end of practice, Katie called the team to the locker room to discuss who they thought should get the spot as Chaser. The vote was unanimous. Everybody had voted for the fifth year, Laura Meade, who was one of Ginny's friends. She had a Nimbus 2000, and was a natural flyer. The team went out to share the good news.

Back at the tower there was a small celebration. Ron and Harry went to go get food from the kitchens, taking Fred and George's place. But even though Harry was getting praise for getting all the food, he felt torn apart from the party. He felt really guilty about what happened at the pitch to Sarah, so when no one was looking he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Mauraders Map and snuck out of the Common Room. He had never been to Ravenclaw Tower, but by looking at the Maurader's Map and seeing a spot filled with Ravenclaw's he thought that that was it. When he got to that spot there was a suit of armor. He knocked on it. He tapped it with his wand, he even kicked it, but it didn't do anything.

Then he opened up the visor, and yelled "Hello?"

He saw someone else's eyes and they said, "Hello? What do you want?"

"I need to talk to Sarah."

"Who is this?"

"Harry Potter."

"Hold on a sec." Harry stepped back and waited. Then the whole wall behind the suit of armor swung open and he was facing Terry Boot, and a small passageway which led to a room similar to the Gryffindor Common room, except for the fact that it was blue and white. "Hey Harry, Come in. Sarah's up in her room. Up those stairs." He said pointing to a set of stairs at the other side of the room.

Harry walked through the room with Terry, while everyone stared at him. Obviously, they were not used to visitors of different houses. He went up the stairs and knocked on her door. "Come in," came a voice from inside, and he heard giggling. He opened the door. Sarah was sitting on the floor with her back to her bed in a circle with Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin, and Padma Patil. When he entered, they started giggling even louder, and then Padma said, "We have to go. Bye, Harry."

Lisa, Mandy, and Padma filed out leaving Sarah and Harry alone. "I'm really sorry about what happened today at Quidditch practice."

"It's ok Harry. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have been there anyways."

"No I encouraged you to go."

"Harry, I really don't care." she said ending the matter.

"Are you sure?"  
"Yes," she said stubbornly.

"So, how did you find this place anyways? Did Cho bring you here?" she asked then noticing what she said had hurt him, "I mean, um, I-"

"It's ok. No, Cho didn't bring me here. How do you know about Cho?"

"She told me. Then how did you find it?"

"This." Harry held out the Mauraders Map.

"Wow, This is amazing. Where did you get it?"

"My dad, Professor Lupin, and Sirius Black made it when they went to Hogwarts, and the Weasley twins found it and gave i-"

"Sirius Black. As in ex-convict Sirius Black?"

"He was my godfather. He died last year."

"Oh, I'm so sorry.  That must be so hard. My father died too. He was also in the Order. He was the first one in the Order to die."

At this silent tears started to slide down her face. Harry put his arm around her, and she buried her face in his chest. He remembered Cho doing the same thing to him last year, but this was somehow different.  Cho had been crying about something she knew nothing about. Yes, her boyfriend had died at the hands of Voldemort, but that was a different pain then the one you get when you lose something that is closer to you than a boyfriend. His parents and his godfather had died. Not some person he had barely known for a year. He held Sarah closer to her, but she drew away.

"I'm sorry, I just fell apart. I barely remember him. If anyone should be sad it should be you." She gave him a weak smile, and he returned it.  They were staring into each others, longingly. 

They started to lean into each other, but broke away quickly, when they heard a knock on the door. Padma peered in the door, and said, "You two have been in here for an hour and we want to-Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you two. Just carry on, then." She was about to shut the door when Harry stood up abruptly, and said, "No, I had better get beck to Gryffindor Tower. I'll see you tomorrow Sarah."

"Oh, ok then. I'll see you around."

He walked out of the door, past Padma  and down the steps into the common room. Luna, looking dreamy, waved from behind her upside down magazine. He waved back and walked past Cho, who was sitting beside Roger Davies on the couch and snogging. She broke away long enough to give Harry a _'What where you doing up there for so long with her'_ look, and sneering at him when he didn't say anything. He walked past Anthony, and Terry, waving good bye, and out the door concealed by the statue. As he walked out he slipped on his Invisibility Cloak, and glanced down at the Mauraders Map. No one was on the seventh floor, so he walked thoughtfully down the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower.

'So,' he thought, 'Sarah's dad had been in the Order. How come he was not in the picture? _He was the first to die. So, maybe he died before the picture was taken. Maybe Sirius would kn-Why did he always have to think of Sirius. Sirius is gone. Get a grip on yourself. He's dead. You can never have him back, so stop thinking you can.'_

 He had arrived at the portrait of the fat lady, and mumbled, "Tarantellagra."

"What's that dear?" grunted the Fat Lady in her sleep and the portrait swung forward. He clambered up to his bed, changed his clothes, pulled his bed curtains tight, and fell asleep instantly.

He had the same dream again tonight. These dreams had started to haub=nt him like the ones of the black door did last year, but this time, he knew it was not Voldemort who was forcing these visions on him. 'No,' Harry said to himself, 'they're dreams, just dreams.' He did not believe himself one bit.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Ron as Harry climbed down the dormitory steps into the common room.

"Oh," he turned his attention to the present time, "Nothing…nothing."

"If you say so. Hey, where were you last night. Nobody could find you."

"I decided to get an early night." He lied.

"What a load of dung, Harry. I went upstairs to check if you were there, when they were making a team toast. Where were you really?" he contorted.

He had no choice but to tell Ron the truth. After he had filled Ron in on how Sarah's father was a part of the Order, he said, "how did you find the Ravenclaw Tower?"

"Maurader's Map."

"Oh. Right." They sat down at the Gryffindor Table to eat. 

Katie Bell came over to them. "Practice today, boys. Oh, no Ravenclaws this time, Harry." Before Harry had time to argue, she had spun around and walked away.

"Oy, what is it with her?" asked Harry. Ron opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Hermione sat down followed by Luna and Sarah. "It wasn't a question, Ron. Sarah looked at Harry meaningfully, but none seemed to notice except them. "I was going to go visit Grawp today. Do you guys want to come?"

"Can't," said Harry relieved, "Quidditch practice."

"Who's Grawp," asked Sarah.

"Hagrid's little brother." She put a slight emphasis on the word little. Before she could explain further, though, Katie had returned. "Has any of you seen Ginny. I haven't seen her all morning and I need to tell her there's Quidditch today."

They all looked up and down the table and shook their heads. "Well if you see her could you tell her?"

"Sure" said Ron. When she left he added, "I wonder where she is."

"Hiding from Katie?" said Harry, to fits of laughter by the others.

"Hey there she is." said Hermione slowly. "It couldn't be."

"What?" asked Ron.

"At the…the Slytherin table." She said still staring at Ginny.

"What?!" yelled Ron.

"Ron, calm down!" she said. Ron had stood up his ears were red, and he had a grim look on his face. "Sit down, Ron. You're making a scene."

He sat down, but he was still red and fuming, "I tell her to pick someone better than Michael Corner, and she goes and picks…Draco Malfoy"

A/N: I'm sorry this chappie took so long. I was on vacation again, but I think it's the last time this summer, so other chapters shall be sooner.

Marie: What is Mary-Sue??? I must know.

I don't mind you being critical, but don't go there insulting Sarah cause she is modeled after me! Why do you hate Draco so much? I know that it is a little against all Draco-ness to go to the good side…but he's so hott. I couldn't resist!

O I was so happy to see all those reviews. Yes you did help me catch up, and I hope you keep reviewing with advice(you call it criticism, I call it advice)

Underscore- yes, you better keep reading, because I stole Lucius's wand, and replaced it with a Weasley Wizard Wheezes one. He hasn't found out yet, but I could still try and hex you while I've still got it! (pitiful muggle though I am)

Fairie- Thanks for reviewing. You were the third reviewer, so *yay, happy* there was a ninth chappie. Please keep reviewing, I can always do with some encouragement, and advice.

TO ALL: same thing as last no tenth chappie, til I get three reviews. Yes, you heard me, THREE REVIEWS


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